


Someone Suitable

by lil_1337



Series: Morning After [6]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Banter, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 14:13:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5542916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lil_1337/pseuds/lil_1337
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in the Morning After Universe and takes place after Here’s Looking At You, Quat.  Trowa needs help and finds it in places he never expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Someone Suitable

“I need help.” Trowa caught the soccer ball he had been bouncing on his knees and sighed, looking displeased at having to admit he was not completely capable of handling every situation on his own.

Startled, Duo set down his DS without saving his game then slowly began to grin. The effect would have been unsettling to anyone who didn’t know him as well as Trowa did. “I’m proud of you, Tro. Admitting you have a problem is the first step.”

“Not that kind of help.” Trowa paused, considering, for the space of a moment before shaking his head and moving on. “Well, maybe, but that’s not what I was talking about.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. What kind of help do you need?” Duo put on his serious ‘you can trust me I’m a professional’ face and steepled his hands over his stomach.

“I think I need to go shopping.” Trowa let the words out slowly as if even saying them was too painful to consider.

“You think?” Duo shook his head, frowning. “Can’t you just buy more lube on the ‘net and have them ship it to you? They probably wrap it in a plain brown wrapper so no one will even know. They’ll just think it's porn.”

“Ha, ha.” Trowa smirked. “I buy that local because running out sucks.” He sighed then sat down on his bed setting the ball next to him. “I need some new clothes.”

Duo grinned. “Are you out of socks or underwear?”

“Neither.” Trowa snorted. “I have plenty of socks and I don’t wear underwear. It’s easier that way.” He grinned then hurried on when Duo made an exaggerated grimace. “Last night when we were hanging out Quatre told me that since I shared some places with him that are special to me he wanted to do the same.”

“Okay. So where are you going?” Duo leaned forward, listening carefully.

“He’s taking me to dinner at Maganac’s. His uncle owns the place and it’s his favorite restaurant.” Trowa dropped his chin to his chest and let his hair fall over his face; the perfect portrait of a broken man.

“Damn.” Duo dropped the pretense of mock seriousness. “Do you have a suit? ‘Cause you are going to need one. Shoes too because you can’t wear sneakers or boots. Hell, I’d get the socks and underwear too. They’ll probably know if you are wearing your old tighty whities.”

“I have an old suit at Cathy’s, but I got it for high school graduation so it doesn’t fit anymore. I grew two inches that summer.” Trowa sighed again.

“What about a shirt and tie?”

“I’ve got those, if I can find something that matches” Trowa shrugged looking as helpless as he felt.

“True.” Duo nodded. “You need something nice and modern, but with classic overtones.” He frowned, considering. “Let me make some calls and see what I can come up with. Someone is bound to know where you can get a decent suit that will fit your skinny ass without breaking the bank.”

“Thanks.” Trowa smiled slightly, feeling himself relax for the first time since he had googled Maganac’s and found out just what kind of place it was. It was going to be way out of his comfort level, but if this was something important to Quatre, Trowa was willing to do it.

That thought was only slightly more terrifying than knowing that he was going to have to go shopping for clothes with Duo.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Nah, thanks anyway, Charlie. I appreciate you looking into it for me. I owe you one” Duo ended the call and flopped back onto Heero’s bed with a sigh. He dropped the phone next to him and blew out a long breath. At his desk Heero looked up from the RA’s logbook that he was writing in and frowned. He and Duo hadn’t been dating long, but they had enough history for him to know the look of defeat on Duo’s face was not a common one, nor was it one that Heero liked.

Setting his pen down next to the notebook he stood, not feeling the least bit guilty for leaving work undone - a strange sensation for him, and moved to sit next to Duo. “What’s wrong?”

“I fucked up.” Duo sighed again and rolled so that he could drape his arm across Heero’s leg. “I made Trowa a promise, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to come through for him”

“He’ll be upset?” Heero asked, his hand seeming to move of its own free will to make comforting circles on Duo’s back. He knew how much Duo valued Trowa’s friendship. They might both poke at each other and joke around, but Heero had seen underneath that to the depth of affection there.

“No.” Duo’s voice had taken on a mournful tone which cut straight to Heero’s heart and twisted it in ways he didn’t know were possible. “That’s the worst part. He’ll thank me for trying and mean it.” He let out a breath that sounded more like an explosion than an exhalation. “This sucks! I suck. I hate that I let him down.”

Heero shook his head, one hand tilting Duo’s face so that he could see how much he disagreed with that statement. “You do not. What is it that you are trying to do? Maybe I can help.”

Duo rolled onto his back, eyes on the ceiling, though he did not move his arm from where it was. “Quatre wants to take him to Maganac’s and I told him I would help him find a suit. We could probably get something nice for cheap at one of the thrift places down by the student union, but this is a big deal. He’s meeting Quatre’s uncle and getting the once over so I was really hoping for something that was new and not designed when Nixon was president.”

“Okay.” Heero’s thoughtful expression became a smile as he listened to the words tumbling out of Duo’s mouth. Heero reached across to where his phone lay on his desk and picked it up. Quickly he fired off a text then set the mobile down next to him. “Are you familiar with Merquise Men’s wear?”

Duo nodded. “Yeah, the place downtown that you need an appointment to shop at? If Tro and I pool all our money and he sells his car we could probably buy a pair of socks there. Though I wouldn’t bet on it.”

“Zechs, the owner, is…” Heero paused, frowning as if unsure of how to define the connection between Zechs and himself. “He is Relena’s brother and he owes me a favor.” The buzz of his phone interrupted what he was planning to say and he picked it up. Grinning he replied then pressed a few more keys on the keypad. Almost immediately Duo’s phone informed him that he had a text as well.

He frowned then picked it up almost afraid of what he might see. The text stated that it was a forward from Heero Yuy so Duo clicked on it. The body of the message read. _I’d be honored to help. I have an opening at 1:30 tomorrow, have them come then._ He blinked, staring at Heero as if he’d never seen the man before. “This guy knows that Trowa isn’t rich right?”

“Yes.” Heero nodded I explained that. “He’ll take care of things.”

The small look of surprise and hope on Duo’s face blossomed into a huge grin and he threw himself at Heero, tackling him to the bed. “You’re amazing! Thank you! Thank you! I owe you so big for this.”

“I’m glad I cou…” The rest of what he was going to say was cut off by a very enthusiastic kiss. Pressing up into it Heero decided that was much better than talking or doing log books any day.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“hmmm.” The man circling Trowa had long blond hair that was almost white and hung down to his waist. If Trowa hadn’t already set his sights on a specific blond he might have been interested in a general sort of way. That is if the man hadn’t spent the last five minutes studying Trowa as if he was a puzzle that needed to be solved instead of a person. “I think something in rust or possibly a dark grey. Slim fit, but we want to accent those shoulders.”

He strode off leaving Trowa feeling more than a little bemused. Turning to Duo, who was lounging on one of the crushed velvet benches outside of the changing room, he asked, “who is this guy again?”

“Milliardo, though he goes by Zechs for some weird reason. Relena’s brother.” When Trowa gave him a look of confusion Duo sighed. “She’s one of Heero’s friends; majoring in poli sci. They had some classes together freshman year. They’re both advance placement over achievers.” There was a smile of fond exasperation on Duo’s face that Trowa was pretty sure had nothing to do with Relena. “She had lunch with us a couple of times. Honey blonde hair, usually in a ponytail. Wears way too much pink. Likes to debate.”

“Oh, yeah.” Trowa nodded, as he put a face to the name. “I remember her now. She seemed decent from what I remember. Interesting to talk to.”

“Yeah, that’s her.” Duo nodded his agreement. “Heero did a favor for Zechs a couple of years ago. He wouldn’t tell me what it was and trust me I have my ways of getting information out of him.”

Trowa snorted. “I can imagine.”

“Anyway.” Duo waved Trowa off with a grand gesture. “He owes Heero so you, my friend, are getting an awesome suit.”

“So, then I owe Heero a favor?” Trowa was okay with that. He liked Heero well enough and trusted him not to take advantage of the situation.

“Nah. I already repaid him.” Duo smirked, his expression going downright evil.

Trowa laughed, amused, despite the ongoing feeling that he was way out of his depth and the water was getting deeper. “As long as he didn’t scream my name it's all good.”

“Not even close.” Duo’s grin softened before it morphed back into a smirk.

“Then I owe you a favor.” Since he and Duo often traded favors back and forth during the year that was a fairly comfortable position to be in.

“Nah. I’m just glad to see you happy. Besides,” Duo paused and looked almost embarrassed. “If you hadn’t gone to that party with me I’d still just be lusting after Heero from afar. This is so much better.”

“I wouldn’t need a suit if I hadn’t gone to the party.” Trowa smirked, turning it back onto Duo.

“Just take the gift, asshole.” Duo punched Trowa lightly on the shoulder and grinned. “We like you. Mostly. Plus if you’re out with Quatre then I have the room to myself.”

Trowa snorted then chuckled. “ As long as there is an ulterior motive.”

Zechs chose that moment to return carrying four suits, each a different color and cut. The first, a deep rust turned out to be too tight across Trowa’s shoulders. The tan left him looking too washed out. The third, though, was a soft grey with just a hint of green. The material was as comfortable as it looked and it allowed Trowa to move as easily as if he was wearing a pair of sweats.

“This is it.” Trowa nodded, pleased with his reflection in the mirror. “I could play soccer in it.”

Zechs looked down his nose and blinked. “I wouldn’t recommend that. However, if your boyfriend is not impressed he doesn’t have eyes. You have excellent taste and you know what looks good on you.” He turned Trowa slightly then adjusted the waistband before nodding. “I completely agree. This is your suit. It doesn’t even need any additional tailoring.” Gathering up the other suits he smiled again. “Leave it on for now. I’ll be back with a shirt and tie.”  
He returned quickly carrying a silky forest green shirt and a tie that was just enough darker to stand out in contrast. Once it was on Trowa could hardly believe that he was looking at himself in the mirror. All that was left was to find the right pair of shoes. Once again Zechs disappeared then reappeared, this time with a shoe box in each hand.

“Twelve or twelve and a half?” Zechs asked

“Twelve.” Zechs offered the box in his right hand and set the other down next to Duo. “Try them on.”

Trowa settled on the bench across from Duo and removed the lid. The shoes inside were almost indistinguishable in color from the material of his suit and were made out of leather that had been worked until it was as soft and supple as wearing a pair of moccasins.

“Perfect.” Zechs ran his eyes over Trowa slowly, taking in what he saw. “Yes, that will do nicely. You can change now and I’ll wrap everything up.”

Ten minutes later Trowa was back in his own clothes and trying not to think about how big of a hit his bank account was about to take. At the register he pulled his wallet from his back pocket and waited for the news. He’d given Duo his budget, but he couldn’t help, thinking that he was way over it. Still, he was prepared to spend every cent to his name if that was what it took to look good for Quatre. Trowa was careful with his money, but some things were worth investing in like a good suit or making a good impression on Quatre’s uncle.

“How much do I owe you?” Trowa pulled out his debit card and waited with it in hand for the total.

“Nothing.” Zechs smiled and shook his head.

“I can’t.” Trowa shook his head. “It’s too much.” He felt his face go red, he might not have a lot of money, but he sure as hell wasn’t a charity case. He could pay his own way!

Zechs tilted his head to the side considering. “You’ve met my sister?” When Trowa nodded he continued. “Relena has always been strong willed even as a small child. Several years ago she had a disagreement with a young man who decided that she needed to be taught a lesson. If Heero hadn’t stepped in I shudder to think what would have happened. As it was she was only banged up and frightened. Though not enough to hold her back for long.” He smiled, proud and amused. “I admire her strength and resilience.” He shook his head. “After the incident Heero took the time to teach her some self defense when she asked.” He paused again then pinned Trowa with a look. “Do you have a sister Mr. Barton?”

“Yes.” Trowa nodded, the word catching in his throat as he tried to not picture Cathy in the same situation and how he would have felt about it.

“You understand then that this.” He gestured to the assorted boxes on the counter. “is one small way in which I can attempt to repay my debt. Not that I can ever do that completely. It will be the work of a lifetime.”

“Thank you.” Trowa smiled, fighting the urge to hide behind his fall of bangs. He slipped his card back into his wallet and put it back in his pocket. This was a matter of personal pride and gratitude, two things that Trowa understood well. “I really appreciate this.”

Zechs offered a hand which Trowa shook. “My pleasure, Mr. Barton. My pleasure. Enjoy your date.”

Trowa smiled, letting his guard down long enough for Zechs to see how grateful he was. “I will.”


End file.
